John Boehner And His Frivolous Lawsuit

We now are confronted with an existential question—to wit, is it possible for an empty suit to file an empty suit?

"This is not about impeachment—it's about him faithfully executing the laws of this country," Boehner said. The speaker alleged that the president not only has ignored the law but "brags about it," decrying what he described as "arrogance and incompetence." Boehner had been weighing such a lawsuit in recent days, over concerns that Obama exceeded his constitutional authority with executive actions. Republicans have voiced frustration with Obama's second-term "pen and phone" strategy of pursuing policy changes without Congress—particularly environmental rules via the Environmental Protection Agency. Republicans also complained about numerous unilateral changes to the implementation of ObamaCare. The lawsuit has not yet been filed. But asked Wednesday whether he intended to proceed, Boehner said: "I am." "My view is the president has not faithfully executed the laws," he said. "What we have seen clearly over the last five years is an effort to erode the power of the Legislative Branch."

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Dude, I know this has been asked before but, seriously, are you high?

If you, the Speaker Of The House of Representatives, think the President Of The United States has not been faithfully executing the laws of the United States, which would be as specific a violation of the presidential oath of office as anyone can commit, then you introduce Articles Of Impeachment. That's the way it works. You are accusing him of a profound offense against the Constitution, perhaps the gravest one you can commit without being, I don't know, Aaron Burr or someone. You don't respond to something like that by treating the president as though you're a meter reader who slipped on his sidewalk. Of course, all of this is completely contingent on your being serious about this lawsuit, and on this lawsuit's not being simply another petulant exercise in political vandalism.

So, come on, really.

"On one matter after another during his presidency, President Obama has circumvented the Congress through executive action, creating his own laws and excusing himself from executing statutes he is sworn to enforce -- at times even boasting about his willingness to do it, as if daring the America people to stop him," he wrote.

Let us have a debate, then. Let us compare what Boehner says the president has done—which, by the way, he has done less than almost all of his immediate predecessors—and then let's compare everything his House hasn't done because it doesn't like the president, his party, his politics, or (sadly) his race. Let us determine who is "faithfully executing" the jobs for which they all get paid. Hell, let us determine who's actually interested in governing the country, or is counsel for the plaintiff going to argue that, if the country elects a obstructionist Congress, and that Congress holds together, then the country need not necessarily be governed by anyone at all? That would be an interesting point to be litigated -- if, again, this were a serious legal action, and not the latest and most elaborate clown show staged by a threadbare political circus. Also, this isn't exactly the way to campaign for tort reform.

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